Kettle Moraine, WI - April 1-3 - Northern Unit Thru Hike

Myself and ZMallory are planning to hike the hike the entire Northern Unit of Kettle Moraine, WI (32 miles) in a 3 day trip (Friday through Sunday). I have made shelter reservations for 10 people at shelter #5, so slots are open if anyone is interested.

Our roughed out itinerary is below.

April 1 - Meet at Shelter #1 by noon. Park a car at the trailhead at Shelter #1 and drive up to the trailhead at HWY P and park a second car. Hike 7.73 miles into Shelter #5. There is water at Shelter #5.


**If we have a 3rd of 4th car, it may be nice to park a car at Mauthe Lake so we can drive to the gas station if needed on night #2.

Day 2 - Hike from Shelter #5 to Mauthe Lake. This will be a 14.86 mile hike. Camp at Mauthe Lake instead of Shelter #2 due to water being available and pizza delivery until 3am.....yes, there is pizza delivery. We confirmed it last time.

*Now for Mauthe Lake. They do not start taking reservations until April 15th, so it will be a first come, first serve situation and we self register at the gate shack. It will be $12 for a No Electric site and $17 for a site with Electric. This will allow people to find that "perfect" site and then team up with whomever they like and split the costs associated with that site.

***If anyone just wishes to car camp, they could meet us here.

Day 3 - Hike 8.99 miles to the trailhead at Shelter #1. Travel North to pick up the second car and head home.


Current Roster:

Breck
ZMallory
ZMallory's Better Half
Zmallory Guest #1


Again, I have reservations the 1st night for 10 people at shelter #5, so if you want to go, just let me know. I have covered the cost of night #1 (only $25). Night #2 would be on each person. Please, if you are going to backpack with us, be ready for a 15 mile day on day two. If you want to car camp or car camp and or car camp and hike the final day with us, you can meet us at Mauthe Lake.

Shelter 5 is the best for hanging. Unlimited possibilities.

Glad to hear that. I wasn't too impressed with the options at Shelter #2. Shelter #1 may have had some good options but I just got plain laze and hung inside the shelter from the center beam.

I live in Madison, and am definitely interested in this, though I work on the weekends which could be tough to get out of. A friend of mine (another newbie here, cwellman) would probably be interested as well. I'd love to get out on the trail for a short trip.

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Originally Posted by hilo4321

I live in Madison, and am definitely interested in this, though I work on the weekends which could be tough to get out of. A friend of mine (another newbie here, cwellman) would probably be interested as well. I'd love to get out on the trail for a short trip.

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If you can't make it out for the whole trip, you could always meet us at Shelter 5 or Mauthe Lake just for the night. I'm not sure if the drive is worth it for one night.

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Originally Posted by Breck

Myself and ZMallory are planning to hike the hike the entire Northern Unit of Kettle Moraine, WI (32 miles) in a 3 day trip (Friday through Sunday). I have made shelter reservations for 10 people at shelter #5, so slots are open if anyone is interested.

Our roughed out itinerary is below.

April 1 - Meet at Shelter #1 by noon. Park a car at the trailhead at Shelter #1 and drive up to the trailhead at HWY P and park a second car. Hike 7.73 miles into Shelter #5. There is water at Shelter #5.


**If we have a 3rd of 4th car, it may be nice to park a car at Mauthe Lake so we can drive to the gas station if needed on night #2.

Day 2 - Hike from Shelter #5 to Mauthe Lake. This will be a 14.86 mile hike. Camp at Mauthe Lake instead of Shelter #2 due to water being available and pizza delivery until 3am.....yes, there is pizza delivery. We confirmed it last time.

*Now for Mauthe Lake. They do not start taking reservations until April 15th, so it will be a first come, first serve situation and we self register at the gate shack. It will be $12 for a No Electric site and $17 for a site with Electric. This will allow people to find that "perfect" site and then team up with whomever they like and split the costs associated with that site.

***If anyone just wishes to car camp, they could meet us here.

Day 3 - Hike 8.99 miles to the trailhead at Shelter #1. Travel North to pick up the second car and head home.


Current Roster:

Breck
ZMallory
ZMallory's Better Half
Zmallory Guest #1


Again, I have reservations the 1st night for 10 people at shelter #5, so if you want to go, just let me know. I have covered the cost of night #1 (only $25). Night #2 would be on each person. Please, if you are going to backpack with us, be ready for a 15 mile day on day two. If you want to car camp or car camp and or car camp and hike the final day with us, you can meet us at Mauthe Lake.

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I am in but will not hike cuz I would just slow you down.

I was at Mauthe Lake last Thursday and for the most part the park has very limited road access. You can drive up to the area where the road split to the right and left for the campground, but that's as far as you can drive. Their were only two campsite available here and they were very small and not very nice. Their was still around 2' of snow blocking the road here. If you want to hike in you will be o.k., but will not be able to drive up to any campsite. With the warmer weather this last week it may be better, but I would check first if I was you.

Fritz

Ok, I need a final head count to ensure we find whoever is meeting at at Mauthe Lake, if there is anyone meeting us. So far there are only 3 of us on this trip so if someone wants to jump in for the hiking portion last minute there is available shelter permits; just PM me so I know you are coming.

I will be meeting ZMallory at Shelter #1 on Friday around noon. We will then carpool to the trail head that we will start from.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Breck

Ok, I need a final head count to ensure we find whoever is meeting at at Mauthe Lake, if there is anyone meeting us. So far there are only 3 of us on this trip so if someone wants to jump in for the hiking portion last minute there is available shelter permits; just PM me so I know you are coming.

I will be meeting ZMallory at Shelter #1 on Friday around noon. We will then carpool to the trail head that we will start from.

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Sorry I couldnt make this one

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Originally Posted by wisconsinwalter

Sorry I couldnt make this one

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Be happy you didn't. We started late and skipped the hiking on Day 1. I separated from the group on Day 2 and solo'ed the 15 down to Mauthe and the rest of the trip. Day 3 (today) was about 8-9 miles in the freezing rain, I fell 4 times and in the last fall mixed up the trails and got lost. I ended up road pounding about 4-5 miles (I think....I'll figure out the numbers later). Every time I thought, "Oh please don't let it rain, sleet, thunder, lightening" or "Please don't let me fall again or be lost" it happened. Even the lightening started when I was within 25ft of the truck. Even the water was nasty the entire trip. It was so nasty, I only ate 2 meals and 2 pop tarts for the entire trip because I was constantly on the edge of nausea.

I will try to write a trip review soon. For now I'm just tired and hungry.


Lots of lessons learned and looking back it was one crazy adventure.